Akira Toriyama Games with Still Loading Podcast, Princess Peach Showtime, Side Order Final Thoughts

[00:00:00] Welcome to Tokyo Game Life, a Tokyo-based video game podcast focusing on Nintendo and

[00:00:13] gaming culture in Japan's capital.

[00:00:15] Your host Mono here to bring you a slice of gaming life from Tokyo.

[00:00:19] Today's feature is about Akira Toriyama and his involvement in video games.

[00:00:23] Returning guest Josh from the video game history podcast still loading joins as we examine

[00:00:27] Toriyama's incredible legacy in the gaming industry.

[00:00:30] I promised you it's not sad.

[00:00:33] In the game section, I look at Pigeot's protagonistic return in Princess Peach Showtime

[00:00:37] and give some final thoughts on Splatoon 3's side order.

[00:00:41] And as always a bit of news.

[00:00:43] Let's jump right into the feature on Akira Toriyama and gaming with Josh from the still loading

[00:00:47] podcast.

[00:00:55] Today's feature is about Akira Toriyama and his influence on the gaming world.

[00:00:59] As you know, he unfortunately passed away at the age of 68 a few weeks ago but his

[00:01:02] mark on anime, manga and yes gaming is undeniable.

[00:01:06] And don't worry this won't be a sad segment since we're going to celebrate his amazing contributions

[00:01:11] to gaming and digging to everything he worked on both famous and obscure.

[00:01:15] Joining me to chat all about it is a special guest so guest please introduce yourself.

[00:01:20] Hello it is I returning from the game of your episode Josh from the still loading podcast.

[00:01:26] Mona, how are you doing and thank you for having me on again?

[00:01:28] I'm doing great.

[00:01:29] I'm always excited to have you on.

[00:01:31] This is actually your fifth appearance on the podcast.

[00:01:33] Believe it or not, is it a record?

[00:01:35] You are tied with the record so I think the record just yet but you are tied with it.

[00:01:39] I think a lot of listeners remember you from our game of the year episodes and our pick

[00:01:43] been four episodes but I dragged you back to chat about Akira Toriyama because like myself

[00:01:47] you two are a fan of his work so I want to hear your backstory.

[00:01:51] What was your first exposure to Akira Toriyama?

[00:01:54] I first got exposed to his work in like a lot of kids growing up in the 90s with Dragon

[00:02:00] Ball Z but the way that I got exposed to it was I was a huge Pokemon kid growing up and

[00:02:07] I would watch the anime in the morning and I remember being really mad every time DBC

[00:02:14] was on it first because it was never during the fight scenes that I saw which now I

[00:02:18] realize it was probably like a filler episode where they just show lots of like panning

[00:02:22] shots of NAMIC and you're just waiting for something to happen.

[00:02:27] So I was waiting for that to end so I could watch Pokemon and I just, I was so mad at

[00:02:32] him.

[00:02:33] Like I don't care about this show.

[00:02:34] Dragon Ball Z what does that even mean?

[00:02:36] Can we Pokemon?

[00:02:37] I was really angry for like a nine year old belt off this show and I remember...

[00:02:44] Finally seeing like a fight and it was something where I don't...

[00:02:48] It wasn't no one went super saying in it but I remember seeing like a power up scene

[00:02:54] and then all of a sudden it just...

[00:02:57] It was action I had never seen before in a cartoon.

[00:03:00] It blew my mind.

[00:03:03] I just could not believe what I was watching.

[00:03:04] I had never seen an American cartoon like that.

[00:03:07] I had never seen a TV show that did anything like that.

[00:03:10] It was something that I had...

[00:03:12] I couldn't fathom my little eight year old brain just could not fathom.

[00:03:15] It was the coolest thing I had ever seen and didn't know that I wanted until I saw

[00:03:20] it.

[00:03:21] I mean I didn't know Akira Toriyama made that.

[00:03:24] Right.

[00:03:25] I had no idea.

[00:03:26] I just knew it was Dragon Ball Z and I remember then after that discovering what Dragon Ball

[00:03:31] was, I'm like, wait a minute there's a prequel to everything that happened in Dragon Ball

[00:03:36] Z and Goku is a kid.

[00:03:38] What is this?

[00:03:39] What is this world and it just fascinated me ever since?

[00:03:43] That was my first exposure to his work.

[00:03:45] Yeah, I have a similar path.

[00:03:47] I first discovered Toriyama through Dragon Ball Z like most people and aired around my

[00:03:51] home in syndication.

[00:03:52] I want to see Sunday at 6.30am Dragon Ball Z would come on.

[00:03:57] And I think this was even before it came to a cartoon network of a portronomy.

[00:04:00] It was just a regular TV syndication and I used to catch it if I woke up really early.

[00:04:05] It was Sailor Moon at 6 and then the BBC at 6.30.

[00:04:09] So I believe that was my first exposure to anime in general.

[00:04:12] And I was instantly a fan of BBC because it was just so distinctly different from any

[00:04:16] other animated show in America.

[00:04:18] And before we really dig into his work, let me briefly lay some groundwork on Toriyama

[00:04:22] before we get into specifically his work on video games.

[00:04:25] He was born in Iche prefecture in Japan which is around the middle of the country and

[00:04:29] his first big hit was Dr. Slump in 1978 which is a comedy manga.

[00:04:33] I think maybe a lot of people, if you haven't read it, you might know the character Arale.

[00:04:37] She is from Dr. Slump.

[00:04:39] And he followed that up with the course Dragon Ball in 1984 which ran until 1995.

[00:04:44] And during that time and afterwards, he also worked on many video games as a character designer.

[00:04:49] So Josh, how would you even go on to describe his art?

[00:04:53] What would you say are some of the key elements of this style?

[00:04:55] And why do you think people connect so much with his art?

[00:04:58] What I would say is that his designs are very unique.

[00:05:02] I'm playing Dragon Quest for the first time in kind of like, I've been meaning to for

[00:05:07] quite some time, but once he passed, I'm like, all right, I should really get on that.

[00:05:11] And the reason I bring that up is because one of the things I'm noticing now granted

[00:05:15] I'm playing the Super Famicom version of the original Dragon Quest so there are some

[00:05:20] updated graphics.

[00:05:22] But all of the monsters and the designs of the monsters are so unique and so varied

[00:05:28] and so interesting.

[00:05:31] One of the things I'm really enjoying about the game so far is that I can tell what type

[00:05:36] of fight I'm going to get based off the monster I'm fighting and part of that is game design.

[00:05:42] But the designs are so striking like if I fight a wolf man, I know exactly what type of enemy

[00:05:47] I'm going to have how many hit points it has already because it's hard coded and the designs

[00:05:51] are so unique that it makes it easier to memorize those types of things.

[00:05:56] Whereas I wouldn't say the same for like other enemies in other JRPGs.

[00:06:01] Like, I love Final Fantasy it's one of my favorite series but I don't remember a lot

[00:06:05] of the generic enemies in those games.

[00:06:07] In Dragon Quest 1, I'm already memorizing the wolf man.

[00:06:11] I'm memorizing obviously the iconic slime so I think one of the hallmarks of Toriyama's

[00:06:16] design is just how strong they are and how unique they are.

[00:06:21] Game Quest was based off of like Dungeons and Dragons and kind of like Wizardry and Ultima

[00:06:26] specifically which in turn is based off of tabletop games.

[00:06:30] So when you think about a slime in like a D&D campaign, it's usually this acidic blob

[00:06:37] that kind of has maybe some eyeballs in it or something like that to see you and it's

[00:06:41] just kind of floating in goo and it's really kind of like grotesque looking but they send

[00:06:46] that over Toriyama and he makes it cute.

[00:06:49] It's a little tiny Hershey Kess looking thing with a smiley face into eyeballs on it and

[00:06:55] it's not something you would expect.

[00:06:56] He's able to subvert your expectations but still make the designs work and that to me

[00:07:01] that's almost like his hallmark.

[00:07:03] What kind of stands out of his designs is that he can subvert your expectations but it never

[00:07:08] takes away from the overall intention of whatever he is working on.

[00:07:13] Yeah, I totally agree and for a lot of Americans especially his art style feels like the

[00:07:18] default anime art style and it was for a time in the 90s when you think of oh what is

[00:07:24] the anime art style.

[00:07:25] You're thinking of Toriyama.

[00:07:26] You're thinking of the big spiky hair which is common in a lot of anime but you could say

[00:07:30] that Toriyama if he didn't invent it, he at least really popularized it or he expressed

[00:07:34] his characters through their hairstyle which I definitely want to get into more when we

[00:07:38] talk about specific games.

[00:07:40] I also think his characters often having very simplistic but oftentimes eclectic fashion

[00:07:45] really stands out.

[00:07:46] Many of his characters are basically just wearing fairly simple like a jumpsuit or normal

[00:07:50] clothing but there's always a twist on it or some feature that really stands out.

[00:07:55] I always think of the Saiyan armor which I how would you even describe it.

[00:08:00] It doesn't really look like anything I've seen before.

[00:08:02] It's both very simple in terms of its aesthetic but also you're not going to mistake you

[00:08:06] for something else.

[00:08:08] I think that's the reason why he managed to become popular in Japan and America is

[00:08:12] that it's art.

[00:08:13] You know it when you see it.

[00:08:14] You never think oh, Toriyama make this?

[00:08:17] You just know.

[00:08:18] I also remember when I first got into DBZ that I had never seen art like that at all because

[00:08:26] like I said when I first saw Dragon Ball Z all it was was just wide-panting shots of

[00:08:32] Namiq.

[00:08:33] But then when Goku comes on and he powers up and his hair changes, I remember hearing

[00:08:39] that the voice actor for Goku, the American voice actor, North American dub of DBZ or

[00:08:46] whichever dub I don't know which one, but the voice actor for Goku for the scene where

[00:08:50] he had to go Super Saiyan 3 passed out from yelling so much.

[00:08:55] I don't know if that's true or not.

[00:08:56] I'm not going to say that is like a definitive fact.

[00:09:00] I do find that story a little amusing but that lens to the mystique that the show had

[00:09:05] where there was so much in this world that you did not know and did not understand.

[00:09:10] And the designs just lent to it like the capsule core thing, right?

[00:09:16] That's such a cool idea where it's like little machines inside little capsules that captured

[00:09:20] my imagination.

[00:09:21] They just throw that motorcycle pops out and like what is this?

[00:09:25] I think the designs of it were so strong and like specifically the facial animations

[00:09:31] and the face designs and hair and everything with the head because I had never seen cartoons

[00:09:37] with that much detail.

[00:09:40] Vains were popping out of their face or arms and their hair had more lines.

[00:09:45] It was just this really cool aesthetic and I'll never forget that.

[00:09:49] Like it's just something that has stuck with me all these years later.

[00:09:52] It was one of the things that stuck out to me about it and that traces back to Toriyama

[00:09:57] and his designs.

[00:09:58] So we've laid some groundwork on who he is and how it became famous but let's look at

[00:10:01] his contributions to the world of video games.

[00:10:04] Josh, do you want to take a shot and guess what was the first video game to use Akatoriyama's

[00:10:09] designs?

[00:10:10] I would assume Dragon Quest but maybe there's something earlier but I'm 99% certain

[00:10:15] it's Dragon Quest.

[00:10:16] And you are right.

[00:10:17] It is Dragon Quest which launched in May of 1986 and I did wonder if a Dragon Ball

[00:10:21] game came out first but the first Dragon Ball game was in September of 1986 for the

[00:10:26] Super Couset vision.

[00:10:28] It only had 30 games but it did have the first Dragon Ball game ever and in November of

[00:10:33] that same year there was a Famicom game called Dragon Ball Shenlong's Riddle which actually

[00:10:37] did come out to the States, retitled as Dragon Power.

[00:10:42] So he came out swinging when he entered the world of video games and it seems that recently

[00:10:46] you've been playing the original Dragon Quest games right?

[00:10:48] Yes.

[00:10:49] It was the very first time I have never played a single one and I'm playing through the

[00:10:53] first one right now.

[00:10:54] Yeah, there isn't a whole lot of backstory on how he got involved with Dragon Quest.

[00:10:59] It just seemed like Enix wanted him because he was the biggest manga artist in Japan at

[00:11:03] the time and also Toriyama's editor really encouraged him to do it but he ended up being

[00:11:07] a perfect fit since he has the master of creating characters that are very simplistic

[00:11:12] in detail but they all look very different have very distinct silhouettes and the box

[00:11:17] are and the other chrome material obviously it looks different from the in-game graphics

[00:11:21] but like you said earlier, you are able to tell that Toriyama designed it because he expresses

[00:11:26] his characters through their visual design in just such a unique way and they manage to

[00:11:31] stand out even with these very simple pixel graphics.

[00:11:35] So we talked about some of the enemy designs that you said you liked earlier.

[00:11:38] Are there any other Dragon Quest designs that really stand out from you?

[00:11:41] Either from the games you're playing now or once you've seen before in the past.

[00:11:45] A lot of artwork was shared around Twitter when Toriyama passed and a lot of stuff from

[00:11:51] Dragon Quest 5 like the artwork from that game really stood out to me and I've heard nothing

[00:11:55] but good things about that game.

[00:11:57] I guess it on this series called King of Games and it's a friend's podcast, Rheture Hangover

[00:12:03] I'm going to try to really paraphrase this down because otherwise I'll go on a long

[00:12:06] wooded thing that's not directly Toriyama related but they did a series called King of Games

[00:12:12] and they do it every year.

[00:12:15] King of Games 92 which came out last year to the public and it was basically like we looked

[00:12:20] at all the games that were released in 92.

[00:12:22] In this, they had Dragon Quest 5 and that game was like the way people talked about it

[00:12:28] in that series, it was like something magical about it.

[00:12:32] So when I started seeing all of the artwork from that game, I think Nadiox for posted

[00:12:37] something about it and it just stuck out to me.

[00:12:40] I just think his artwork for that series is just really beautiful and it's something

[00:12:46] that I always meant to get into but because the early Dragon Quest games were on the NES

[00:12:51] and I've heard of how obtuse they were compared to modern standards.

[00:12:55] It always scared me away but I finally go diving into it so I don't know, Dragon Quest

[00:12:59] 5 the artwork for it.

[00:13:00] I'm actually trying to try to find it on Nadiox page now because it was key art from

[00:13:04] it and you see like a giant tiger or like a cheetah, like a saber tooth.

[00:13:10] I was talking about it.

[00:13:11] I was talking about it standing behind this guy wearing a purple cloak and a staff, it's

[00:13:16] very striking and there's just this adorable little slime looking off into the distance

[00:13:20] at the people's feet.

[00:13:21] I'm enjoying my playthrough of this first game and I'm planning on doing one through

[00:13:25] three back to back on my twitch streams so I'm working through them bit by bit and who

[00:13:30] knows when I stream this tomorrow, I might actually beat the first one.

[00:13:33] Apparently the first one's not that long.

[00:13:35] Anyway, the artwork I agree with what you said earlier really stands out.

[00:13:39] Yeah, and you mentioned the Dragon Quest 5 main character design.

[00:13:43] That's not a typical character design.

[00:13:45] If you were given the task of okay design a hero for a JRPG, I think most artists are

[00:13:50] not going to come up with the design of the Dragon Quest 5 character.

[00:13:54] He's got like a purple headscarf and a staff it's just so different from what you would

[00:13:57] expect which is I think one of Toriyama's great strengths is that like you said before

[00:14:02] with the slime, he was told okay and with her Drian, Ultima and all the other monster

[00:14:08] manuals this is what the slime looks like.

[00:14:10] It's just a pile of goop and I want you to translate that into your art style but he

[00:14:14] kind of went like a totally different path and for me a lot of other iconic Dragon Quest

[00:14:19] designs.

[00:14:20] Of course the slime which we all love and I do like the variations as well like the King

[00:14:24] slime which is just a big fat slime and the metal bubble which is like a melted like looks

[00:14:30] like liquid metal and some of my other favorites the Eardrick or Lotto the character from

[00:14:35] Dragon Quest 3 in his blue plate armor.

[00:14:38] That's basically the default JRPG hero look I think and I also like the Dragon Quest 4 female

[00:14:43] design because she looks quite tough and she has these big muscular tree trunk legs

[00:14:48] and it's such a bold design which we talked about before they don't feel like they are designed

[00:14:53] by committee I want to say it feels like really singular in their vision.

[00:14:58] Sorrow from Dragon Quest also looks amazing and he is basically a proto Sephiroth which

[00:15:03] we'll talk about later on about all his designs and really important characters and important

[00:15:08] games that were inspired by his designs.

[00:15:11] If you look at Sorrow the human version and you look at Sephiroth it's hard to believe

[00:15:16] that Nomura the artist for Final Fantasy did not see Sorrow and say hmm I should make

[00:15:21] a design similar to that.

[00:15:23] The Dragon Quest in general just really has incredibly consistently good character designs

[00:15:28] even up to eleven all the characters are so singular and unmistakable and it's pretty

[00:15:32] incredible that he could just work on dozens of these games in the same series and make

[00:15:37] so many standout designs over three decades.

[00:15:41] I can't even think of another artist working on a game series that long and putting out

[00:15:46] so many amazing designs.

[00:15:48] And the fact that you can tell it's all him right like it's unmistakable that it's his

[00:15:53] style.

[00:15:55] And sometimes you know some people like look at artists who can adapt to lots of different

[00:15:59] styles and become a chameleon and you don't know it's them that's also really cool but

[00:16:04] I think it's a credit when there's an artist whose style is so noticeable the moment

[00:16:08] you see it you know who drew it.

[00:16:11] It's almost a credit to how well they have built up their repertoire as well as their

[00:16:16] design skill over the years where they can take their style make it feel like their own

[00:16:22] but then adapt to so many different scenarios.

[00:16:25] Kind of also this is kind of super random but when you're asking before about like what's

[00:16:29] part of his design work that stands out and I mentioned like the details and the hair

[00:16:33] and stuff like that also muscles he really well.

[00:16:37] Oh yeah it's both really absurdly muscular but also quietly yes you're broly and then

[00:16:43] you're just you're popping out of the screen with your muscles but yeah that's a good observation

[00:16:47] nobody really draws muscles like him.

[00:16:50] I guess we should jump into his other big game Chrono trigger many pitches as being developed

[00:16:55] by an all star team of Japanese devs and it goes without saying that if you're looking

[00:16:59] for an all star character designer you've got to get Toriyama.

[00:17:02] What are your thoughts on Toriyama's work on Chrono trigger?

[00:17:06] It's fantastic.

[00:17:07] Chrono trigger was literally as I said before like you can recognize Toriyama's artwork immediately

[00:17:14] when I saw the artwork for Chrono trigger I'm like hey that looks like Dragon Ball Z before

[00:17:19] I knew Toriyama was a part of either of them.

[00:17:22] Like that's interesting why does this look like Dragon Ball Z?

[00:17:25] I had no idea at the time and fighting Chrono trigger I played it for the first time I

[00:17:30] want to say oh my god decade ago like 2014 maybe 2013 or 2012 something like that a little

[00:17:36] over a decade ago and it's just like that game it's one of the best games I've played

[00:17:43] just one of the best RPGs I've played and not you know a lot of people will say that

[00:17:48] and it's based off nostalgia I don't have nostalgia for that game I didn't play it

[00:17:52] as a kid I didn't have a super Nintendo as a kid I came to it as an adult and it still

[00:17:57] blew me away and the designs of the artwork in that game is just beautiful like absolutely

[00:18:04] beautiful there's so many moments in that game like the camp fire scene in Chrono trigger

[00:18:10] one of the I have a shadow box a shadow box frame of that moment in my game room right

[00:18:18] here where some of the trees are raised up off of the backdrop the characters are raised

[00:18:23] up it's just such an iconic moment and I don't think it would look nearly as iconic

[00:18:29] if it wasn't for Toriyama's designs.

[00:18:31] Yeah you mentioned the camp fire scene right now I'm playing Unicorn Overlord and one

[00:18:36] of the pieces of promo art is a camp fire scene and every time and there's no coincidence

[00:18:42] I think that they're invoking that image because anytime there's a camp fire scene in the

[00:18:47] JRPG it's probably because of Chrono trigger and then really goes to show you his influence

[00:18:52] on just so many other titles and so many other games and Chrono trigger I think maybe

[00:18:58] a lot of younger gamers maybe it doesn't hold that level of a steam or that level of fame

[00:19:03] for them but if you grew up in the 90s or even 2000s Chrono trigger it is kind of the default

[00:19:09] like quote unquote greatest RPG of all time or greatest JRPG of all time it's up there with

[00:19:13] like Final Fantasy VII in terms of I get this was a popular classic game and so it's

[00:19:18] pretty crazy that especially for American audiences.

[00:19:22] The default anime is what dragon ball and the default JRPG is what maybe Chrono trigger

[00:19:27] and Toriyama is so involved with both of them so he is hard to ignore him is what I

[00:19:33] want to express yeah a lot of people's first exposure to different genres if you're being

[00:19:38] introduced to anime is probably through dragon ball at least in the 90s and also if you're

[00:19:43] being introduced to JRPGs it's probably Final Fantasy VII but number two is probably Chrono

[00:19:48] trigger or Dragon Quest or some other JRPG series or game that he worked on.

[00:19:54] Yeah and I think again his work on Chrono trigger is very emblematic of a strength as an

[00:19:58] artist you understand so much about every single character just by looking at them which

[00:20:02] he talked about earlier for the Dragon Quest monster designs and like I said earlier his

[00:20:07] art is so suited to being translated into a more simplistic style of pixel art because

[00:20:13] it does capture the spear and the key elements of his designs like the big eyes the wild hairstyles

[00:20:19] the simple clothing it doesn't feel like his design elements are lost when they're

[00:20:23] translated into video game graphics and just think of all the amazing character designs

[00:20:29] in Chrono trigger you got Chrono Magus Robo Ila who was really just a cave woman in a bikini

[00:20:36] but he does so much with the concept visually do you have a favorite design in Chrono trigger

[00:20:41] do I oh man honestly frog maybe oh yes I'm sorry I didn't even mention frog that's a big mistake

[00:20:47] on mine well yeah what do you like frogs so much it's just because it's designed that

[00:20:52] shouldn't work like it's a frog that semi anthropomorphic but it also wields a sword

[00:20:59] it just it's a really like when I think about chrono trigger other than Chrono itself

[00:21:04] and I was tempted to say Chrono because but he's on the cover so I didn't want to go with

[00:21:08] like just the generic answer so I decided to go with frog just because it's so unorthodox

[00:21:13] but it works so well I frog is awesome I also think who is it I like Robo I think Robo

[00:21:20] is a fun design as well and Chrono just looks like something straight out of Dragon Ball

[00:21:24] Z but I don't mean that as an insult I really like Chrono's design as well so we've

[00:21:29] talked about two of his most famous works in terms of gaming Dragon Quest and Chrono

[00:21:32] trigger but let's dig into some of the more obscure stuff he often designed characters

[00:21:36] for games that he wasn't really involved in he designed a character named dark raid

[00:21:41] for Famicom jump to and another character called be man 500 SS for Chosoku Henge gyro

[00:21:47] Zetter again I can't say I've played sorry but it is kind of funny to see where else

[00:21:52] has Toriyama popped up in gaming and he also designed a diorama for a fantastic I'm not

[00:21:57] sure if you're familiar with this game Josh but it is a JRPG for Apple Arcade and all

[00:22:02] the backgrounds they're pre-rendered but they are realistic dioramas like photographs

[00:22:08] I believe and so he designed one of those which you know you wouldn't expect him to do

[00:22:12] you think okay maybe he designed a character but to make a whole diorama shows that always

[00:22:17] quite multi talented and he also worked on the blue dragon series for a Mr. Walker and

[00:22:22] Xbox have you ever played a blue dragon game?

[00:22:25] I have not but I actually bought the original blue dragon game just a couple months ago

[00:22:30] before I knew Toriyama best I actually have it in my game room here and I've been meaning

[00:22:35] to give it a try but I figured before I try blue dragon I should work on his first iconic

[00:22:40] series of dragon quest yeah but yeah I've been meaning to give it a shot at some point

[00:22:44] just have not gotten around to it he also designed for Tobal oh yeah definitely going to

[00:22:49] be Tobal one and two yes I definitely want to talk about Tobal but going back to blue

[00:22:53] dragon for a little bit I think a lot of people may be forgot about this franchise but it

[00:22:56] was a big swing for Xbox in terms of having something appealing to the Japanese market and

[00:23:02] also filling the JRPG gap on the hardware the 360 it was super popular in America and it

[00:23:08] was at the time I guess relatively popular in Japan compared to all the Xbox consoles

[00:23:13] before and after so they were making a big attempt to you know okay we have Japanese games

[00:23:18] on our hardware look we have a JRPG series with Toriyama and if you want to gain

[00:23:23] and greens JRPG you might as well hire Toriyama and made by here in Obasaka Gucci from

[00:23:28] your final fantasy like it had it brought them all back together again yeah it's definitely

[00:23:33] a chrono trigger adjacent if you think about it and yet going back to what you mentioned

[00:23:37] Tobal number one and two another franchise I think a lot of people probably forgot that

[00:23:41] he created the character designs for this fighting game series again putting you on the spot

[00:23:46] have you played the Tobal series no no they're fighting games right yes the games that

[00:23:52] have played that have Toriyama somehow imprinted on it are obviously trying to not

[00:23:57] drag him west chrono trigger dragon ball Z Budokai I played a lot as a kid also this is

[00:24:02] I saw this on Twitter I don't know if this is true or not but someone showed a picture

[00:24:07] of Dr. Slop that I think that the main character from Dr. Slop I'm not sure it was like

[00:24:12] she was in a specific pose with little wings on her hat yeah around and right next to

[00:24:17] it it showed Mario 3 and I bring that up because you know we're talking about games that

[00:24:22] Toriyama worked on but this is a game that Toriyama kind of had a hand in without actually

[00:24:26] being hired for it's almost identical like the pose is almost identical to what you see

[00:24:32] on the Mario 3 box art and it very much seems like Miyamoto was at least inspired by Toriyama

[00:24:38] and his design in Dr. Slop which was popular at the time they were developing super Mario

[00:24:43] 3 yeah there's definitely a lot of his influence and other games that he had nothing to do with

[00:24:51] but it's really hard to look at those games and then look at Toriyama's art and say there's

[00:24:55] no connection there's definitely a connection there's definitely a big influence and I want

[00:24:59] to mention a few of those but before we move on to that I want to touch on Tobal a little

[00:25:04] bit more because his designs for Tobal are a bit interesting because they're undeniably

[00:25:09] Toriyama's art style but they seem a bit more realistic or I guess less jolly maybe they

[00:25:15] seem more serious than his other designs which kind of makes them stand out ironically though

[00:25:21] and actually the box art for Tobal number one in the US does not feature his artwork it's

[00:25:26] just the 3d models and this is that's like kind of a common theme for a lot of the early

[00:25:31] Toriyama games in America for example dragon quest came to America as dragon warrior and if you

[00:25:37] look at the dragon warrior art for NES it's western looking art that they redid it does not show

[00:25:43] Toriyama's art if you look at the Japanese box art for dragon quest 1 2 3 it's unmistakably

[00:25:48] Toriyama's fantastic artwork but they thought oh this is two Japanese two on a main

[00:25:54] let's change it to make it more like generic western it's kind of funny think about when

[00:25:59] dragon quest came to America they didn't use Toriyama's art or they didn't market it

[00:26:02] Tobal when that comes to America they didn't use Toriyama's art on the cover and yeah

[00:26:07] going back to dragon power the first dragon ball game for the Famicom Josh if you have a computer

[00:26:12] in front of you please look up dragon power NES look up that artwork and this is a dragon

[00:26:19] ball game and I want you to tell me if this invokes the feeling of dragon ball at all

[00:26:25] the American box art not even in the slightest it looks like a dude straight out of the karate

[00:26:33] kid doing a high flying karate kick into the screenshot of the game with a big dragon kind

[00:26:40] of swooping and swirling behind him and behind the logo breathing fire at the top that is

[00:26:47] it's a very Americanized 80s generic 80s box art for a game and looking at what the Japanese

[00:26:54] Famicom box art was just wow the American North American is so much worse yeah the Japanese

[00:26:59] box it looks like you would expect it has like the shinlong the dragon that has Goku kind

[00:27:05] of jumping out in a really dynamic pose and this actually I looked at this the other day

[00:27:09] and if you look at the dragon quest two box art or the Japanese one the first dragon ball

[00:27:14] game and the dragon quest to box art they look kind of similar I know they are both Toriyama

[00:27:19] but the pose of the main character seems like very identical I don't know if this is

[00:27:24] an intentional callback but it is fun to look at Toriyama his games entered the scene but

[00:27:29] until dragon ball gets into more circulation in the late 90s that's when developers or

[00:27:34] publishers think okay we can use Toriyama's art as a major marketing point because before he

[00:27:40] deliberately erased it but now we realize okay Americans actually do like this art style and

[00:27:45] I guess we should probably talk about dragon ball games they're all based on his work

[00:27:50] and he has designed some brand new characters or dragon ball video games he did android 21 for

[00:27:54] dragon ball fighters Mira and Toos for a dragon ball online and Bonyu for Dragon Ball Kakarot

[00:28:01] you have a favorite dragon ball game I played a lot of dragon balls he Buddha Kai yeah I really

[00:28:06] enjoyed that because that game followed the story of dragon ball Z so it was like you were playing

[00:28:11] through the show again and I actually thought they did a really good job of in terms of like pacing

[00:28:16] the only thing that I hated was there was a mini game at the beginning part of the say in saga

[00:28:24] where you meet radits you know Goku's brother I think radits is Goku's brother if I remember

[00:28:29] correctly it's been a long time since I've watched the show and you know in the show radits is more

[00:28:35] powerful than Goku and Piccolo but Goku figures if he can hold on to radits and like hold

[00:28:42] I think even pulls his tail to like make him like be unable to move to the pain you have he

[00:28:49] like gets him into a lock and that gives Piccolo enough time to use a special beam cannon to kill

[00:28:56] radits but also in turn kill Goku and it's the way they make you do it in the game is that you have

[00:29:03] to wait for Piccolo to charge up his shot and you constantly have to like radits is trying to move

[00:29:09] left and right and you have to keep him in the center within the path of the shot and I'm like

[00:29:14] it was one of the most obnoxious things ever because you could not keep him still for the life of

[00:29:19] you I did a little bit better when I replayed it a couple years ago but man that section was one

[00:29:27] of the most aggravating points of gaming in my entire life I still remember the rage from that

[00:29:33] to this day yeah I also played a lot of the budokai games they are making a fourth when I believe

[00:29:37] I don't remember if it's called budokai four they are continuing that series and dragon ball

[00:29:42] obviously it's based on a comic and anime but it does feel like a game series in itself you don't

[00:29:47] need to know anything about the franchise to enjoy the games and so many people keep saying either

[00:29:52] ironically or unironically Goku for smash brothers and it does feel like Goku is kind of an

[00:29:58] honorary video game character despite coming from comics because there are just so many Dragon Ball

[00:30:03] games and they've managed to reach people who are not really even into Dragon Ball there's

[00:30:07] up and down in terms of the quality of the Dragon Ball games but there aren't quite a lot of good

[00:30:11] ones the budokai series fighters which it was like a real big breakthrough both for arc system works

[00:30:18] and that's kind of revitalized Dragon Ball a bit in terms of popularity some Dragon Ball games I

[00:30:23] like I like Dragon Ball Origins for the DS which is based on the original Dragon Ball series

[00:30:29] and it is kind of like a Zelda I would definitely recommend you check it out if you can get your hands

[00:30:33] on it it's not very long and it's pretty simplistic in terms of the gameplay but the art style

[00:30:37] again how many times do we need to say hey Toriyama's art style looks amazing when you translate

[00:30:42] to the games and I want to touch on some games and characters that he inspired you mentioned before

[00:30:49] Arale from Dr. Slump her running style maybe inspired Super Mario's running style and Super Mario

[00:30:55] 3 and any character that any sort of Super Saiyan any character that shot a beam out of their hand

[00:31:00] or teleported behind someone they're paying homage to the master Super Sonic this is just a ripoff

[00:31:06] of Super Saiyan right like there's no denying it I mean it's a direct ripoff but done in a loving

[00:31:13] way I would argue of course it's not trying to hide anything no so you mentioned Mario before

[00:31:19] but are there any games or characters or artists that you feel like were inspired by Toriyama's works

[00:31:25] I mean throw a stick and you're gonna find one because it's after he passed like the amount of

[00:31:31] other Magica is that is that the right term yeah Magica who were saddened by his by the loss of him

[00:31:40] and who credit him for getting a kickstarting their careers is just staggering like so many people

[00:31:48] have been influenced by him and it's hard to really think about I can tell you right now for myself

[00:31:54] I'm not an artist but I did want to be at one point in time I would trace over DBZ characters over

[00:32:00] and over again and draw them from sight until I could memorize the design now I'm not a good artist

[00:32:06] like I said so if you ask me to draw Goku in a different position other than the one that I saw him in

[00:32:12] nah it's not happening but my youngest brother he got into art and drawing because of dragon ballsy

[00:32:18] so I feel like Toriyama and my brother none of my brothers are like artists in that sense but

[00:32:24] the fact that my youngest even got the farthest out of all of us in terms of like trying to practice

[00:32:29] and hone his craft is better than I can say for what I did and the fact like that's just with him

[00:32:35] there's so many people who have been influenced by him yeah one that I was like to bring up that a lot

[00:32:39] of people don't notice until they look for it but Ken Tsugi Mordy's early designs can

[00:32:44] Tsugi Mordy obviously known for his work on the Pokemon franchise but if you look at his pre-pokémon

[00:32:48] work and especially Pokemon Jin 1 he does seem like he is imitating Toriyama and Lister's might think

[00:32:54] there's nothing alike but look up the Jin 1 red art style and then tell me that red does not look

[00:33:00] like a dragon ball character he's got the sharp eyes he's got the spiky hair he's got the pointy shoes

[00:33:05] Gary kind of has a little bit of Toriyama in him that design yeah the Toriyama eyes I think

[00:33:11] up they're just big white boxes with these black pupils oftentimes kind of very angry looking

[00:33:16] and Tsugi Mordy obviously evolved his art style over the years but Toriyama definitely had a

[00:33:20] huge influence on Pokemon and that series largely became popular because of his excellent designs

[00:33:27] which are somewhat Toriyama adjacent I don't think it's the coincidence that okay in the late 90s

[00:33:31] Americans are really interested in dragon ball and they're interested in Pokemon a lot of people maybe

[00:33:36] are not making the connection between the two art styles but there probably is some sort of subconscious

[00:33:41] thing there where they think okay I like both of these things because the art is somewhat similar

[00:33:46] where it stands out and never put that together yeah like I like I can see it now I did read about

[00:33:51] Tsugi Mordy's influence being influenced by Toriyama but I forgot about it and then I also didn't

[00:33:57] put it together really specifically until you look at even like the cartoon the anime of Pokemon

[00:34:03] Ash has big bright expressive eyes all the characters have big bright except Brock but all the

[00:34:10] characters have big bright expressive eyes and I that's a very Toriyama thing I never thought of

[00:34:16] that yeah especially his eyes are black pupil and then white it's not like the typical anime eyes

[00:34:21] where it's like more multi colored so yeah you really don't think about it until you specifically

[00:34:25] look for I was thinking of definitely look at the shoes those are some dragon ball-esque shoes

[00:34:31] that everyone is wearing in generation one so yes Sonic Pokemon Street Fighter you know Hadoken

[00:34:38] is Kamehameha I mean there's no hiding that those are just a few of the series that oh more than

[00:34:44] just a little bit to Aka Toriyama so before you wrap up do you have any closing thoughts on Aka

[00:34:50] Toriyama's works or his legacy or well how do you think people will remember him did you see my big

[00:34:57] Twitter thread I don't know if you saw that at all and if you don't mind I could just read it off

[00:35:02] I feel like it actually it tells a bit of a personal story it also helped me pinpoint my emotions on

[00:35:07] his passing so here's what I wrote I've been reflecting more on a curatorium as passing and why

[00:35:13] it's hit me harder than I expected celebrity deaths don't always get me in the fields very few do

[00:35:19] but this one hurts growing up I was made fun of for liking dragon ball Z the whole anime is weird

[00:35:25] and therefore bad trope that was used to mock geeks thankfully it didn't stop me from liking it but

[00:35:30] it did stop me from talking about it since I didn't want to be made fun of once I was old enough

[00:35:36] probably around 13 or 14 I started going on missions trips to Mexico we would go to a small orphanage

[00:35:41] and help them out with projects that need to get done roofing putting up fences plumbing work all

[00:35:47] that kind of stuff after work was done for the day we would spend the rest of the afternoon

[00:35:52] slash evening playing with the kids and most of the time we went on playing soccer with them

[00:35:56] but a few times we had some arts and craft stuff planned during one of those arts and craft sessions

[00:36:02] I decided to start drawing Goku from dragon ball Z I was obsessed with DBZ I would trace over

[00:36:07] pictures of dragon ball Z characters until I could draw it for memory and that's this is actually

[00:36:12] when I go into the little story I said before where if you asked me to draw them in a different pose

[00:36:16] I couldn't do it I was stuck doing that one pose for whichever character I was drawing but that's

[00:36:21] it didn't matter because once I had finished drawing it a few kids came over to look they started

[00:36:25] saying Goku excitedly and then mimic the Kamehameha blast I honestly wasn't shocked because I

[00:36:31] yeah I grew up in a small shelter town that didn't have much of a concept of the world outside of my

[00:36:35] little bubble and finding out that kids in a different country not only new dragon ball Z but also

[00:36:41] liked it was amazing to me I had thought for so long that not a lot of people liked anime slash it

[00:36:46] wasn't cool to like it this to me is what Toriyama did for the world this was his legacy he made

[00:36:53] art so universally loved that it crossed cultural and language barriers it helped me connect with

[00:36:58] kids that I couldn't even speak the same language as and gave us a connection as a sheltered

[00:37:03] child Goku grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania Toriyama opened up the world to me and helped me

[00:37:08] connect with others that I wouldn't have been able to and I can't thank him enough for that

[00:37:13] that's what Toriyama means to me and I think it's why his passing has hit the world so hard because

[00:37:20] the internet is very polarizing in general it's either the happiest place on earth or the worst

[00:37:25] place on earth and it's very seldom that you can get the internet to be united on something

[00:37:31] I want to say it was a Latin American country maybe like Argentina or Chile or something like that

[00:37:37] I don't remember which one there was a official announcement from either the president or the government

[00:37:41] that there was going to be the national day of mourning or something like that that doesn't happen

[00:37:46] for someone like someone from a completely different country caused another country to have

[00:37:50] a national day of mourning or some type of thing like that that's crazy and his legacy is just

[00:37:58] I can't there's not enough words or time in the day to express how much of a legacy is leaving

[00:38:03] and how saddening it is that he honestly passed away too young and there's still work he was working

[00:38:09] on and he'll never get to finish and I mean I'm obviously most sad for his family and loved ones but

[00:38:14] what a legacy they'll leave behind yeah I think a lot of people will definitely share your sentiments

[00:38:19] and experiences it is hard to overstate his importance on so many different genres and so many

[00:38:24] different peoples so many different countries he was the first manga artist to kind of break through

[00:38:30] from Japan to the world so definitely a lot of people not just in Japan but all of the world

[00:38:35] have been impacted by his art and his legacy will definitely continue in video gaming of course

[00:38:40] Dragon Ball games won't whatever end and also Dragon Quest that series will keep going I think

[00:38:46] I don't want to make any predictions but I'm pretty sure even in Dragon Quest 15 or 16 or 17

[00:38:52] down the line they're not going to change the art style it will still be Toriyama adjacent they

[00:38:56] might have Toriyotaro which does the art for the Dragon Ball Super manga continue on but I

[00:39:01] definitely think we will see his art for many many years many many decades to come so let's

[00:39:08] do is now start chat on Akitoriama and his influence on gaming honestly we really just scratched

[00:39:12] the surface because it's really hard to overstate his contributions but let's just I hope you

[00:39:17] enjoyed our chat so Josh from the still loading podcast where can people find you well first off

[00:39:23] thank you again for having me on mono I always love coming on your show and I'm happy that I kept

[00:39:28] this under an hour recording time usually when I'm on we're going for like almost two hours straight

[00:39:33] so I'm happy that I'm making your editing work a little bit lighter this time around so where you

[00:39:39] can find me you can find the still loading podcast you know on Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts

[00:39:44] Spotify pretty much any pod catcher you use it should be there and if it's not let me know I'll

[00:39:49] get it on there but yeah you can follow me on Facebook Twitter Instagram threads blue sky

[00:39:55] at still loading pod twitch at still loading pods if you want to follow along with my dragon quest play

[00:40:01] through I stream generally every Tuesday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

[00:40:08] so if you want to follow along with my streams I will be playing dragon quest one through three

[00:40:13] straight over there and we're playing some more one very soon and maybe by the time this comes out

[00:40:18] I'll be on to two but yeah that's it yeah thank you again for having me on man and if I'm back

[00:40:23] for the game of the year episode I remember last time you said I had a very eclectic blend

[00:40:27] of games and boy you just wait for this here mono oh yeah you just wait can't wait I've already

[00:40:33] beaten 10 games and they're all vastly different oh awesome I'm looking forward to it so the links

[00:40:39] to everything are in the podcast description so check it out Josh from the still loading podcast

[00:40:44] once again thanks for joining me thank you

[00:40:53] and to know his big march game is princess beach showtime but it's not developed by the big

[00:40:58] in instead it's a good field joint you probably know them as he devs of various craft related Yoshi

[00:41:03] and Kirby games where you'll land shake it monkey barrels which I did talk about before on the

[00:41:07] podcast and recently the goemon inspired mometta no bakeru and this game has a big goemon connection

[00:41:13] as he director is at sonobu abisu he's the founder and current president of good fill having spun

[00:41:18] off from Konami years ago he was very involved in the gamba de goemon franchise and the last game

[00:41:23] he directed was mystical ninja starring goemon for the n64 so it's been over 20 years since he's

[00:41:30] been in the directors chair this was a pretty surprising revelation why after all these years did

[00:41:35] he decide to get more hands on with the game typically the president of a company isn't also the

[00:41:41] director again please where are the interviews Nintendo I need those ask a dev articles maybe there

[00:41:47] will be something in Nintendo dream though that's definitely an underrated source of great Nintendo

[00:41:51] related dev interviews at its announcement I thought he was exciting that peach was getting another

[00:41:55] shot at starring in a game while she's technically playable and what probably at least two dozen

[00:42:00] games by now many have craved to see her in a starring role we did get super princess peach on the

[00:42:05] DS which mini sae was mediocre and of course it gave her the questionable emotion powerups I

[00:42:11] think using emotions as a power up in a game is a neat idea on paper but something that you should

[00:42:16] probably give to Kirby instead of peach but thankfully in showtime her powers are much more

[00:42:21] intriguing than you know crying so princess peach showtime at its core is a 2d action title it does

[00:42:27] feel like this game is designed to be somebody's first game ever mechanically it's very simple

[00:42:32] it's an a b game you're not going to be pressing x you're not going to be pressing y just forget

[00:42:37] about those buttons now while the game is pretty simple in terms of the gameplay mechanics you

[00:42:41] need to keep track of the game certainly has a lot of creativity in charm if you go into the game knowing

[00:42:46] that it's not Mario or Kirby it's instead a breezy experience with some fun gameplay segments and

[00:42:51] some nice visuals I think you'll end up liking it the premise is that peach is invited to a show but

[00:42:56] then of course it's taken over by evil grapes everyone predicted this so peach has to save the day

[00:43:01] by entering different stages inside theater and then don a new outfit that bestows her unique powers

[00:43:06] you then use these powers to clear the stage fight some enemies solve some puzzles then rinse and

[00:43:10] repeat it has shades of both Kirby and Luigi expansion like Kirby you get powers that completely

[00:43:16] change your moveset and like Luigi expansion you ascend a fancy building where each floor or more

[00:43:21] specifically level has a distinct theme with bespoke challenges I think people were wondering if

[00:43:27] showtime would be peaches Luigi expansion I spin off to Mario that doesn't star him and has completely

[00:43:32] unique gameplay that highlights the personality of the protagonist I would say showtime's a seed

[00:43:37] on this front but in terms of quality Luigi expansion three is far above this game a little unfair

[00:43:42] though since that series has been around much much longer maybe peaches showtime three will be a

[00:43:47] legit game of the year condender nothing stopping it each level has peach explore a stage into D

[00:43:52] and then eventually she gets a costume swap that lets her get new powers these mostly involve

[00:43:57] a new melee attack but some stages are not combat focused at all there's a detective outfit where

[00:44:02] you need to walk around and investigate a scene using your power to reveal secrets or to accuse someone

[00:44:07] there's also the petissier power up where you need to essentially play a Mario Party minigame

[00:44:11] where you decorate cakes by squeezing out icing from a big tube I really like how they aren't all

[00:44:16] just different types of attacks the ice getting one turns into a rhythm game and there's a pretty

[00:44:21] funny boss battle where you essentially dance from and to death the game has great pasting since each

[00:44:25] level isn't too long and on a floor you have four or so options to choose from so it's up to

[00:44:29] the player to determine what order they want to do the stages I try to go back and forth between

[00:44:33] the attacking stages and the more puzzle or minigame focused ones so far my favorite power up is

[00:44:38] easily the ninja she has all the ninja moves you'd want dash attack stealth hiding under the water

[00:44:44] and breathing through a bamboo tube if they make an entire peach ninja game hey that could be showtime

[00:44:50] princess beach ninja origins I think I like the ninja because it has more abilities than a lot of

[00:44:55] the other costumes I've come across so far sword fighter is really just attack and dodge

[00:45:00] petissier is very context sensitive cowgirl has alasso where you can pull and throw things all

[00:45:06] of these are integrated smartly into the game but ninja was the only one that really surprised me

[00:45:10] in terms of the moveset it's not a curvy level of variety in terms of skills that's for sure

[00:45:15] in typical good fill fashion there's a ton of collectibles in each level you get coins where

[00:45:19] you can buy things in the hub sparkles that are the core collectible and a ribbon that unlocks more

[00:45:24] costumes unless you play very slowly and actively seek them out you aren't getting all the

[00:45:28] collectibles the first time around many are very well hidden and there are some auto run segments where

[00:45:33] you can easily bypass one if you're not paying attention I have to imagine the game is pretty short

[00:45:38] but for people who want to 100% it there's at least a lot of things to find oh and I was very excited

[00:45:43] to see that yes you can also change peaches based dress so far she just still has her iconic

[00:45:48] pink dress but you can find her by new patterns I'm rocking the ninja one with the soccer and cloud

[00:45:52] patterns your little assistant Stella can also change your dress colors but they're far more boring

[00:45:58] the format and structure of the game is very well thought out there's so much variety in the gameplay

[00:46:02] due to having stages completely centered around a specific power up thankfully they're not just one

[00:46:07] and done either for example there are multiple sword fighter stages so you don't just try on all

[00:46:11] the costumes once and then you're done levels have a lot of cool set pieces like one that has

[00:46:16] cowgirl peach chasing down bandits on a horse and you have to last so each of the bandits off the

[00:46:20] horse another one has you surf on a giant wooden wave while you crash through the stage

[00:46:25] the game is more focused on action segments on big set pieces than twitch platforming which does

[00:46:29] tie into these theatrical theming and it's a bit easier for younger gamers since they don't

[00:46:34] need to nail the precision platforming oh that reminds me the theater aesthetic of the game

[00:46:38] works really well it's always neat to see the scene shift or go underneath the stage and see all

[00:46:42] the ropes and pullies and lights I do wish they would lean into it a bit more though I want the sets

[00:46:47] to look really like sets somebody put together and less like a video game area but when they focus

[00:46:51] on the theater look they pull it off quite well show time has a lot going for it but it's hard not

[00:46:56] to think they could have done more with it again going back to Kirby compare any sword Kirby move

[00:47:01] set to be just sword fighter move set both a showtime and Kirby games do kind of focus on

[00:47:06] obliterating enemies but Kirby gives you so many amazing abilities to do so while P just combat

[00:47:11] ones while still kind of neat are very simplistic I've been joined the game because I like bright

[00:47:17] easy games that are cute and charming but people who want more depth to their gameplay mechanics

[00:47:21] might be left thinking is this it but again I have to imagine this game is designed with the idea

[00:47:26] of okay this is going to be some six-year-old girls first game ever so it can't be too complex

[00:47:32] which is fine I think Kirby games are also designed in the same way but that franchise has more

[00:47:37] depth and spectacle to it you're nonstop just doing crazy stuffing Kirby but so far in showtime

[00:47:42] the pace hasn't ramped up that much yet if you watch the trailers and think showtime looks interesting

[00:47:47] or if you're a peach stand or like goodwill style collector thorns I think this game has what

[00:47:52] you want I do hope it does well because I think the franchise has a lot of potential or hey why not

[00:47:58] just team up Kirby and Peach like what stopping them and huge news everyone I beat Splatoon 3's newest

[00:48:04] DLC side-order so it's time for some final thoughts on this very ambitious addition to the Splatoon

[00:48:09] reversed by beat I mean I wrote credits did I 100% it or even 10% it no not at all there's a

[00:48:16] deceptively large amount of content in the side order which is great for people who really get into it

[00:48:20] and if you're like me who just wants to see the credits roll and then listen to another fantastic

[00:48:24] new song there's still enough there to keep you interested until the end if you're out of the loop

[00:48:29] side order is the roglie inspired DLC which is part two of the expansion pass it was in the tower

[00:48:34] fighting baddies and tried to clear specific conditions all while building up your abilities and

[00:48:38] skills to quickly grow stronger as you get closer and closer to the top if you lose your back to

[00:48:43] square one and lose all your abilities but there are permanent upgrades to make things easier I was

[00:48:48] curious if the permanent upgrades would just let you eventually brute force a victory and now I can say

[00:48:53] sort of there are definitely some vital ones like extra lives the pearl drone upgrades one that

[00:48:59] makes specific power ups appear more often so you can get a very specific build and so on but it

[00:49:04] does get to a point where you won't be able to buy anything significant after one run and you'll

[00:49:08] need multiple tries to save up some prayers to buy an upgrade but by the time you get to that

[00:49:12] point you will probably have cleared it according to these platoon 3 section of the Nintendo Switch

[00:49:16] online app suddenly I know everyone checks every day it took me 11 runs to hit the credits it definitely

[00:49:22] felt longer because unlike say balatro there's no one more run type of impetuous runs take about 30

[00:49:28] or 40 minutes and after you get wiped you're probably exhausted if not a little frustrated I had some

[00:49:33] great runs where I was cleaning house but I picked the wrong stage and got wiped so close to the

[00:49:38] final boss it's hard not to be annoyed and think I'm done after that what really helped is doing

[00:49:43] just one run a day and having a goal in terms of what you want to do during the ascent and what

[00:49:48] permanent upgrade you plan on buying with this mentality I never felt like a run was pointless

[00:49:53] because I at least learned something or upgraded my character a bit to make the next run easier

[00:49:57] but even with the inherent frustrations of getting wiped in a rogue light the core gameplay is excellent

[00:50:03] all the new enemies are unlike anything else in the series and most of the challenges are

[00:50:06] completely fair it really just has more splatoon single player content with a unique framing around

[00:50:11] it and the single player of the splatoon series while it does get praised I think people

[00:50:15] understate how great it is I think you get easily by splatoon solely because of the single player mode

[00:50:21] actually saw somebody buy splatoon to the other day and I have to wonder if that's what he was doing

[00:50:26] side order lets you use abilities in fun ways that you don't get to use in the multiplayer modes

[00:50:30] and many of the challenge stages put you in wacky situations that really test your limits

[00:50:34] and splatoon skills I love the one where the portals are spread out across the stage but outside

[00:50:39] of these portals it's just bouncy platforms so you and the enemies are just popping up and down

[00:50:43] in the air there's also a splat zone stage that's huge but it has those fish bloons that you can

[00:50:48] blow up so eventually the battle just turns into you trying to pop these bloons over and over again

[00:50:53] the a ball stages from octo come back except this time they won't make you cry because you can't

[00:50:57] knock the ball off the stage and even the goal kind of magnetizes the ball so there's no crazy

[00:51:01] physics that will mess you up the strength and joy of side order is doing all these creative challenges

[00:51:05] in the tower but on top of that you've also got the rolex elements where you get more powerful

[00:51:09] by collecting color chips after clearing each floor I was skeptical about how much this affected

[00:51:14] your character early on and after rolling credits you definitely see their effect but they don't feel

[00:51:18] like game changing upgrades unlike in other row games so many of the upgrades here are just

[00:51:24] buffing your weapon or giving the pro drone new attacks or increasing your inquiry fill and whatnot

[00:51:29] I think that's what have been a good opportunity to introduce completely new powers or abilities

[00:51:33] that are exclusive to side order but everything you can do here you can also do elsewhere in the game

[00:51:38] the poison ink upgrade is a fun one where enemies get slower and take damage as they

[00:51:42] touch through your ink but there really aren't any other cool power ups you pick up

[00:51:47] in terms of builds I think they're fairly limited but I did only finish around with the splatter shot

[00:51:51] so maybe the other weapons encourage more specific or unusual builds with splatter shot a good

[00:51:57] upgrade is just boosting your attack and range and also focusing on giving the pro drone as many

[00:52:01] power ups as possible since she can do some crazy aoe damage and lets you focus on the objectives

[00:52:07] for hardcore roguelike fans rocheads I guess the rogue elements of side order might be too simple

[00:52:13] or straightforward it's not like balatro where every run forces you to adopt a completely new strategy

[00:52:18] and you can do all these crazy things if you're coming to side order with the hope that you can

[00:52:22] make really really crazy builds you might be disappointed but as somebody who just loves the core

[00:52:27] gameplay mechanics of Splatoon 3 I did in mind that the roguelike elements were a bit light

[00:52:32] again though I think maybe I actually really haven't scratched the surface as different

[00:52:36] weapons of course require different strategies so what you get if you beat the game I won't get

[00:52:41] as dispoilers but there's still plenty of things to do and new weapons to dry out plus there are

[00:52:45] many unlockables for your also precious locker I've already perfected the art of locker Feng Shui

[00:52:51] but the stuff you get is pretty eye catching unlike octo where you're mostly one and done

[00:52:56] side order does want you to play it over and over again even after you've rolled credits

[00:53:00] but if you just hit the credits and dip like me I still think it's a pretty satisfying game experience

[00:53:05] it took what maybe six to eight hours to see credits that's about as long as octo

[00:53:10] and there's a lot more to do afterwards in terms of content so you can easily argue that this is

[00:53:14] the medius Splatoon expansion yet also it's kind of crazy that Splatoon 3 is almost like a fortnight

[00:53:20] s cub where you can focus on whatever you want you could just do the multiplayer or just play the

[00:53:25] ranked multiplayer with completely different modes or you can just focus on the horde mode aka

[00:53:30] salmon run or maybe don't do either and just get really into the card game and now you can just

[00:53:35] load up side order play it as a roguelike and ignore the rest it's crazy how much content is in

[00:53:40] the game and how you can really just pick what you want to do and go all in in short I'm very happy

[00:53:45] with side order and if you're playing Splatoon 3 in 2024 it is definitely a must buy for lapsed fans

[00:53:50] or people who are just curious because it's a roguelike I think you should ask yourself how much

[00:53:54] you like the Splatoon mechanics in the single player mode if the answer is a lot then you'll be

[00:53:59] satisfied if you want something that completely split the game on its head this isn't it but at

[00:54:05] the very least definitely look up the ost on youtube because obviously the soundtrack is banger after

[00:54:10] banger Splatoon is really unmatched when it comes to the visual style and music as long as you don't

[00:54:14] care what's being said all right that's it for games now for some news

[00:54:25] Mario he's back and this time he's making big announcements moments after I published my last

[00:54:29] episode thus making this the latest Mario day 2024 update in podcast history but I'm a huge

[00:54:36] Mario fan and my wife doesn't care about my Mario opinions so I've got to get it out of my system

[00:54:41] me a model showed up and announced a new film and I quote based on the world of Super Mario Brothers

[00:54:47] what does that mean is it a sequel why not just say hey we are making a sequel also didn't they

[00:54:51] already announce a Donkey Kong project is this that or something different it's dated for 2026

[00:54:58] so if it's not just Mario 2 I really wonder when we are supposed to see Chris Pratt Mario again

[00:55:02] I am probably overthinking this and this is just Mario 2 but maybe it has some strange name

[00:55:07] or there's some other element at play that makes it notably different from the first

[00:55:11] if it is a sequel I mean you got to introduce Wario and Wal Luigi right there really aren't a whole

[00:55:16] lot of distinct Mario big bad villains unless you dip into the spinoffs which I doubt they would do

[00:55:21] Mario and Luigi versus Wario and Wal Luigi and of course Bowser teams up with the good guys maybe

[00:55:25] just temporarily but the Bowser face turn is coming he's too entertaining to be the emperor

[00:55:31] of the Mario movie universe also we got dates on two upcoming remakes and or remasters

[00:55:36] paper Mario the thousand year door is May 23rd and Luigi's Mansion 2 is June 27th

[00:55:41] now what special about those dates they are Thursdays I didn't notice it at all but in

[00:55:47] the socion we'll also release on a Thursday this is pretty bizarre as I have to think

[00:55:51] Nintendo is introducing a new release strategy replacing Friday with Thursday

[00:55:56] I guess I should be happy since Thursday is technically sooner but I do like Friday releases

[00:56:00] because I can just focus on the game during the weekend instead of having to be distracted by all

[00:56:04] those pesky weekday responsibilities Nintendo switch online also dropped Dr. Mario on in the S along

[00:56:09] with Mario tennis and golf for the Game Boy Color tennis on GBC is awesome it has a RPG

[00:56:15] S story mode and the game is translated very faithfully from the in 64 version definitely worth playing

[00:56:22] golf also seems to be of similar quality but I've always been more of a tennis guy

[00:56:26] Super Mario Land 1 is strangely still missing I just want to play one one and hear the song

[00:56:30] never played again for another decade give me that into no also a Lego version of a Mario Kart

[00:56:35] cart is coming so neat for some non Mario game Mario merch Saunae did announce they will

[00:56:42] re-relase the original Luigi's Mansion 2 plushies in late June in Japan this include Poltropop

[00:56:47] and Luigi with the Poltrop Gust don't get those two mixed up these days even the plushies are

[00:56:52] getting remastered and Jolato P.K. is releasing new pajamas themed after Peach, Daisy and Rosalina I

[00:56:58] can always count on Jolato P.K. for some peak Nintendo merch for non Mario news but still in the

[00:57:03] world of merch there will be a new Animal Crossing themed Ichiban Kujirafl on March 26th the big

[00:57:09] items include alarm clocks shaped like a radio with Isabel and the Nooklings at Brewster Aperin

[00:57:14] and also packaging that looks like the items in the game like the blue fish bag am I explaining

[00:57:19] this well at all either way you can win it soon I've had some bad luck with Ichiban Kujir recently

[00:57:24] I couldn't find the reasons platoon 1 couldn't find the Final Fantasy 7 1 have I been cursed

[00:57:28] after being able to find them so easily for years and years if I can't find this one I'll definitely

[00:57:33] buy a ticket more news unicorn overlord which I talked about last episode is having some stock

[00:57:38] issues in Japan it was the number one game Japan during the week of its release but since then

[00:57:42] it's been sold out all of the country and Alice has said that they are working on printing more

[00:57:47] even just a few days ago more than a week after its release big camera was completely sold out

[00:57:51] of the Switch version hopefully this boat's well for its success because I am still playing

[00:57:55] and it's a fresh take on these strategy RPG genre I always wondered if Fire Emblem was the

[00:57:59] absolute limit for how much the genre could sell but I'm happy there are some other 6X stories

[00:58:04] out there SRPG maybe a top 3 game genre but we really don't see that many of them

[00:58:09] I try to give some mid game thoughts on unicorn overlord in an upcoming episode so don't worry

[00:58:13] last piece of news article which may know from Tetra 29 and the upcoming endless ocean

[00:58:18] announce they are teaming up with SNK to quote revamp SNK IP

[00:58:22] both companies have agreed to collaborate to again quote promote the revamp reclaim and revive

[00:58:28] of SNK IP they also know that this doesn't solely include fighting games okay honestly not sure

[00:58:35] what this means I like Arika but I never thought they were on the level of SNK in terms of wealth

[00:58:40] or notoriety so it is a unique team up will this lead to Skull Omenia showing up in Kiga Fighters maybe

[00:58:47] SNK doesn't really put out a whole lot of new games outside of Kiga Fighters

[00:58:50] so I bring a new entry in one of SNK's mini IPs would be exciting especially non-fighting games

[00:58:56] outside of KOF we do get a new semi-showdown and a new garo game is on the way but I'm trying to

[00:59:01] think of what non-fighting SNK IP could be brought back if it's up to me I would make another

[00:59:06] cardfighters clash of course maybe a new baseball stars money puzzle exchanger 99

[00:59:12] I have to assume whatever they're working on will come to a need to know console so color me

[00:59:15] interested all right let's wrap it up thanks as always for listening be sure to like and

[00:59:19] subscribe to this podcast on your favorite app leave a five star review as well it really helps

[00:59:24] with visibility this podcast is also available on youtube so like and subscribe there as well

[00:59:29] I'm on twitter threads blue sky instagram just search for Tokyo Game Life or find the links in

[00:59:33] the podcast description if you like the podcast be sure to share it with your friends and on social

[00:59:37] media if there's anything we want to talk about or cover don't be shy just message me on twitter

[00:59:42] the next episode will be on april 7th see you next time muttane

[00:59:49] you